“Heavenly Emperor!” greeted the Tianshens.

The Tianshens had come to pay their respect to the Heavenly Emperor, the crowd thought.

For a moment, silence enveloped the entire Qingzhou Academy. The youths stared at the Tianshens in the sky in awe. These people were all legendary figures. Now, they had come to pay their respect to the Heavenly Emperor.

Who was the Heavenly Emperor?

The Tianshens were all looking in the direction of the Qingzhou Academy, specifically towards Ye Futian.

Could it be Brother Ye?

The youths felt their hearts beating fast. Could it be that Brother Ye, who enjoyed boasting, was the Heavenly Emperor?

Even the cultivators of the Cao clan wore puzzled looks. They stared blankly at what was happening.

Just now, Ye Futian shouted “I am back” at the sky. Then, dazzling divine lights poured down from the heavens above, and the Tianshens came to visit him.

Divine lights continued to descend upon the city. More and more Tianshens arrived. Among them were some cultivators from the Devil World. When they saw Yu Sheng, they bowed and greeted, “Greetings, Devil Emperor.”

“Greetings, Devil Emperor.” Many other Great Emperors followed suit and greeted Yu Sheng. He was the guardian of this world. During Ye Futian’s absence the past few years, Yu Sheng was the one who protected the world from the invasion of the Heaven Realm and the Empyrean.

“Devil Emperor!” exclaimed Cao Yuan.

His face turned pale. Just now, he asked Yu Sheng who he was in a disdainful tone.

Yu Sheng did not respond to the greetings. He stood behind Ye Futian quietly. Many years ago, the two brothers had always been like this in the Qingzhou Academy.

“Master.” Fang Cun, Tie Tou, and the other two disciples of Ye Futian rushed down from the sky and landed in the academy. They were exhilarated about Ye Futian’s return.

Great Emperors and Tianshens referred to Ye Futian as Master.

“Hmm.” Ye Futian smiled while nodding his head. He scanned across the lineup of Tianshens and asked, “Is everyone doing fine?”

“We have been awaiting your return,” Lord Chen said. The Great Emperors from the Ziwei Imperial Palace bowed to Ye Futian. Lord Chen added, “Finally, the day has come.”

“Thank you for your hard work,” Ye Futian responded. He then looked at The Buddha and greeted, “The Buddha.”

“On behalf of all the buddhas from the World of Buddhism, I welcome the return of the Heavenly Emperor,” The Buddha said while bowing. Even though he was a senior of Ye Futian, the latter was worthy of his respect because he had transformed into the Heavenly Path during the battle. Ye Futian had sacrificed himself to save the world. Therefore, everyone should bow to him regardless of their status. The Buddha was no exception.

“Greetings, Heavenly Emperor.” Various buddhas paid their respects to Ye Futian. Their greetings were sincere.

“Gu Dongliu and the members of the Heavenly Mandate Court welcome the return of the Heavenly Emperor.” Gu Dongliu’s voice was solemn as he said this. He stood at another spot and was also bowing to Ye Futian.

“Donghuang Diyuan and the cultivators of the Divine Prefecture welcome the return of the Heavenly Emperor.”

One by one, the leaders of each group greeted Ye Futian. Their voices reverberated in the heavens and the earth.

The citizens of the city of Qingzhou were already numb from the excitement. What were they witnessing?

The knees of the members of the Cao clan went weak as they slumped to the ground. Cao Yuan could not stop his body from trembling in fear.

Ye Futian, the Heavenly Emperor, was being worshipped by the Tianshens.

Master was not boasting, the youths in the city of Qingzhou thought. Master once said that his disciple could transform into the universe and bellow thunder. He was not exaggerating when he said that.

“Brother Ye was not boasting either,” they murmured as they witnessed everything in awe.

“Am I dreaming?” a youth asked.

“It doesn’t seem like you are,” another person replied.

“I knew from the start that Brother Ye was not an ordinary person.” The young lady, who had always trusted Ye Futian’s words, wiped away her tears of joy. Not only was he not ordinary, but he was also the Heavenly Emperor.

Rumble. A terrifying aura pressed down, and a slit appeared in the sky. A menacing vortex loomed over the space. Through the slit, the Heaven Realm could be seen. The cultivators of the Heaven Realm were present too. Their leader sat on the divine throne of the Heaven Court. He looked high and mighty, as though he was the god who ruled over the entire world.

Who is this? thought the citizens in the city of Qingzhou as their hearts raced. The person was like the lord of the Nine Heavens as his God’s might overwhelmed the space. He was seated on the divine throne and was worshiped by many cultivators. He was indeed a very powerful existence.

“I did not expect you to make it back alive,” Ji Wudao said to Ye Futian. His gaze pierced through the vast space as he lowered his head to look at Ye Futian. He sounded somewhat surprised.

Ye Futian raised his head and cast a glance at Ji Wudao. He knew everything that Ji Wudao did all these years. The latter killed Lady Qin and Book Deity and ruled over the Heaven Realm by force. However, he did not go on a killing spree. He also helped protect the world from the invasion of the cultivators from the Empyrean. His sense of justice was still admirable.

“Ji Wudao, what’s your goal?” Ye Futian asked.

The man seated on the throne was Ji Wudao!

The citizens, especially the disciples in the Qingzhou Academy, were shocked when they heard Ye Futian addressing the other party. Even though they were not so familiar with the outside world, they had long heard of Ji Wudao’s name.

It was because he was the strongest cultivator in the world.

Legend has it that Ji Wudao was the most powerful being globally. The youths in the academy had always joked around and said that they wanted to be the next Ji Wudao or his disciples.

Now, the legendary figure had shown himself in front of them.

Moreover, he was an acquaintance of Brother Ye.

“What’s my goal?” Ji Wudao muttered, seemingly asking himself the same question. Then, he smiled and said, “In terms of seeking the Path and becoming immortal, I have long achieved this goal. I am immortal now. I exist along with the heavens and the earth. I shine as brightly as the sun and the moon. My true goal is perhaps fulfilling my obsession. I want her to know that I can do better than you.”

“Why bother?” Ye Futian sighed.

Then, he announced, “I will sever your Path of the Emperor. You will be kicked out of the Imperial Realm. Be an ordinary cultivator from now on.”

Ye Futian sounded calm when he said this. It was as though he was just informing everyone of a usual occurrence. However, everyone in the Qingzhou Academy felt their hearts tremble violently. Ye Futian was talking about Ji Wudao here, the strongest cultivator in the world.

Ye Futian wanted to sever his Path of the Emperor?

Who in this world would dare spurt out such a bold statement?

Ji Wudao rose from the divine throne. His gaze was terrifying. He cast a glance at Ye Futian. Immediately, Jiutian Divine Swords plummeted down. Countless Swords of the Heavenly Emperor, containing God’s might, traversed across the space and charged towards the city of Qingzhou.

Ye Futian raised his head and gave the swords a stare. The swords instantaneously crumbled into nothingness. They disappeared without a trace.

“From the looks of it, you are now even more powerful than when you transformed into the Heavenly Path,” Ji Wudao commented. “However, you did not completely eradicate the Human Ancestor in the past. When he was trying to escape, I swallowed him whole. I refined him to improve myself. Now, I am the strongest in the world.”

Ji Wudao took a step forward as he declared, “Therefore, I can still defeat you even if you have transformed into the Heavenly Path.”

His domineering voice echoed throughout the space.

As he said this, he extended his palm. A horrifying black hole was formed, and it expanded frenziedly. In an instant, the power of the black hole enveloped the vast space. The entire world was trembling.

Rumble. Even though the people residing in the Nine States were extremely far away from the black hole, they could still sense the terrifying aura emanated by it. Everything on Earth seemed to be on the verge of collapsing and being sucked into the black hole.

“If you have transformed into the Heavenly Path, I shall swallow the entire heaven,” Ji Wudao declared loudly. Beams of divine light from the black hole shot up into the clouds. The whole world was shaking.

Countless people were astonished by this. This was the strongest figure in the world, Ji Wudao.

Black lightning pierced through the space. Even the Heavenly Path trembled in its wake.

Ye Futian looked up. With a shift of his will, everything in the world seemed to stop, including the destructive black lightning and the terrifying vortex that wanted to consume the Heavenly Path.

“Time and space, separate.”

As Ye Futian uttered these words, Ji Wudao’s attacks seemed to exist in a separate dimension from the rest of the world. Time and space were distorted.

Then, Ye Futian lifted a finger. A beam of light shot out from his fingertip towards the black hole. An intense light radiated outwards after that. In an instant, everything in the world seemed to return to its initial silence. Time and space collapsed and shattered.

Ji Wudao watched all of this in astonishment. When time and space returned to normal, the destructive power that he unleashed had already disappeared without a trace. His Path had been destroyed.

Ptui… Ji Wudao let out a dull groan as he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His face was pale as the aura on his body kept dwindling.

“Ji Wudao, you are banished from the Imperial Realm for life,” decreed Ye Futian. His word was the decree of the heavens.

The members of the city of Qingzhou looked up at the sky. The mighty ruler of the Heaven Realm, the strongest cultivator in the world, had his Path of the Emperor severed with a finger!